The results of a heat assignment in Clark County show the hottest places in downtown Vancouver and the areas of the orchard, the fourth level and the Obstal.
Higher temperatures were also recorded in Washoughal, in the city center of Camas and downtown Battle Ground.
These areas have more buildings, paved surfaces and industrial development.
The places with the coolest temperatures included west and central camas and areas with more green and natural rooms such as the Burnn Bridge Creek Trail area in Vancouver.
The report published by The County this week is based on the recording of Heat Mapping data acquisition in July.
The data show that the warmest areas were more than 10 degrees hotter than the coolest on the day the data was collected.
The study was organized by the Clark County Public Health Department with the support of Capa Strategies LLC, a climate consulting company based in Portland, which works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to map heat islands in the USA and the world. The same company helped in the summer of 2023 to record heat in the counties in Multnomahs, Clackamas and Washington.
Clark County's health officials said they plan to use the data to help the local communities adapt to extreme heat-in one thing the determination where trees plant, installing green roofs, adding cooling centers and filling bus stops and helping people to replace HLK systems on oil and gas base with heat pumps that offer cooling in summer.
Heat waves are particularly dangerous for older people, people with low incomes, people with disabilities and people with color, say health officers.
More than 50 volunteers drove in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening on a single day 17 routes in Clark County and collected temperature and other readings about a special sensor that was attached to their cars.
Earlier efforts to assign heat in the United States have relied on the remote sensing of satellites in order to map land surface temperatures and appreciate the risk of the community. However, the temperature collection on the ground level is much more precise, say researchers.
– Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the transition of clean energy and other environmental problems. Reach them at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.